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Posts Tagged Manga

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – January 2, 2013

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, January 6, 2013

It’s the first new manga of 2013! 2012 went out soft with no new volumes of manga released in its last week, but distributors and publishers worked to ensure that the new year was much more stacked to start. Get those gift cards ready!

You can read my thoughts on the new year’s first week of releases over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

Bleach (Vol.54) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Cage of Eden (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Caramel [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dengeki Daisy (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Heroman (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Hunter x Hunter (Vol.29) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
I’ve Seen It All (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Jiu Jiu (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Love Makes Everything Right [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Message to Adolf (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Ninth Life Love [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Oresama Teacher (Vol.12) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Otomen (Vol.14) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Psyren (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Strobe Edge (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Ultimo (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

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Categories: Features, News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Bleach, Cage of Eden, DMP, June, Manga, Omnibus, Osamu Tezuka, Otaku USA, Otomen, Stan Lee, Vertical Inc, Viz Media

Year In Review: The Kuriousity of 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, January 5, 2013

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Here we are in the first week of 2013. We survived 2012! A lot of the past year is a blur in my mind, a flurry of up and down personal trials and an ever changing manga industry that makes a lot of the events of the past twelve months mesh together. Where does it begin and end!?

Thank goodness for Kuriousity to give me some grounded events and dates with which to look back on. That said, it’s time for a brief look back at Kuriousity in 2012!

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Categories: Misc, Site Updates
Tags: Knights of Sidonia, Manga, Toriko

Review: Heroman (Vol. 01)

By Andre Paploo on Saturday, December 29, 2012

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Author: Stan Lee / BONES
Manga-ka: Tamon Ohta
Publisher: Vertical Inc
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: October 2012

Synopsis: “Orphaned American teen Joseph Carter Jones, aka Joey, lives with his grandmother in Central City, Los Angeles. When he’s not in class you can generally find him working diligently at a diner to help make ends meet at home. Upon hearing of a new toy robot called the Heybo, Joey becomes set on the idea that acquiring one will change his for the better. Unfortunately, he cannot afford to buy the machine on his meager salary. His luck changes when he picks up a broken-down Heybo abandoned by a school bully. In Joey’s eyes this used bot could be a source of strength. It could turn him into a hero for (cheerleader) Lina and his school… if he can make it work.”

Stan Lee is a cherished comics creator, and even in his old age is still a great showman and astute business man. While lending his name and conceptual ideas to numerous properties this past decade, his efforts have recently extended to Japan. It’s resulted in a few major media properties that have made their way back to the USA. Vertical’s licensing efforts have in turn resulted in bringing one of these, Heroman, to domestic readers. With an amicable style, and an inviting presentation, Heroman presents itself as an excellent series that will serve well as both a great introduction to manga for new readers brought in by Lee’s name and a great series for long time fans bored with the tropes of other shonen series. Tamon Ohta elevates Lee’s concepts to match the promise of such a collaboration. Heroman is a solid read that’s easily recommendable.

Read more…

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Heroman, Manga, Stan Lee, Vertical Inc

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – December 19, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, December 27, 2012

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There are no new manga volumes out this week, but it’d come as no surprise if certain events have readers a bit behind on prior releases. Sort of like my delay in posting about the books that hit store shelves on December 19th – oops!

You can read my thoughts on that week’s books over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article.

Danza [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dorohedoro (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Oh My Goddess (Vol.43) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Paradise Kiss (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tenjo Tenge (Vol.10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Vagabond VizBIG (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

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Categories: Features, News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Dark Horse, Manga, Natsume Ono, Oh!Great, Otaku USA, Paradise Kiss, Vertical Inc, Viz Media

Review: Blood Blockade Battlefront (Vol. 03)

By Andre Paploo on Saturday, December 22, 2012

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Manga-ka: Yasushiro Nightow
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Older Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2012

Synopsis: “Traffic in New York has never been a picnic, but with the Big Apple destroyed and rebuilt as the dimensional-gate madhouse known as Jerusalem’s Lot, gridlock is a little more complicated. When the city’s forty million jailed paranormal criminals are about to be set loose by a monster truck – literally, a monster truck – the superagents of Libra may have to contend with a rush hour of apocalyptic proportions!”

Continuing his visually exciting visit to Jerusalem’s Lot, Yashuhiro Nightow brings us another actionpacked volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront. Filled with memorable characters and a cheerful attitude, one finds themselves having a fantastic time as Lovecraftian monsters cascade about them, populating the bars, tourist traps and houses of illrepute that make up the remains of New York City. The previous two volumes were quick, fun reads, and this third one delivers more of the same as Leonard Watch goes about his everyday life as a member of a super awesome secretive organization that uses blood-based fighting styles as a weapon against rogue demons. If that last sentence made any sense to you, or if you don’t care if it did because it sounds awesome, this may be the manga for you!

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dark Horse, Manga

Review: Start With A Happy Ending (Vol. 01)

By Shannon Fay on Thursday, December 20, 2012

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Manga-ka: Risa Motoyama
Publisher: Digital Manga
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2012

Synopsis: “In an instant, a host of the recently deceased discover that they’ve been given another shot at happiness…as adorable cats! Will they make the most of their seven-day opportunity? Or will the fur fly as they struggle to figure out what life’s all about? Start With a Happy Ending follows finicky felines and curious kittens as they take a crash course in the ups and downs of existence! Can reincarnation give a legion of lost souls the wake-up call they truly need?”

This is a tricky manga for me to review as it hits two of my biggest weak points: cute cats and didactic stories where the main character learns an important lesson. Even though I know deep down that I’m being manipulated, I just can’t resist either of these things.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

Mature Farewell to 2012: Project-H Licenses Two New Titles

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

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Digital Manga‘s hentai imprint, Project-H, is ending the year as they lived it – with new licenses!

Nyotai-Ka! (Vol. 01-04) – Ru-en Rouga
Sexless Friend (Vol. 01) – Kakei Hidetaka

Both titles are scheduled for print releases, likely in summer 2014. Personally it’s a little weird getting these license announcements this early. There’s over a year and a half’s wait for the first book! At least by then the news will be fresh again… right? The current prices are listed at $19.99/CAN and $17.95/US, per volume.

Nyotai-Ka! is about a young man who wakes up one day to discover he’s suddenly been turned into a woman, and a very attractive completely-irresistible-to-all-others sort of attractive too. He learns that the only way to turn back is to become aroused, but the ‘condition’ comes with a unique set of exceptions and loopholes. This series is complete at four volumes.

Sexless Friend, which is currently only one volume but on-going, follows a student who is troubled by the pushy romantic advances he receives from the girls at his college. His interest lies in the more shy and reserved but he doesn’t want to hurt the girls by telling them so. All the same, he can’t help but be attracted to one of his teachers. After helping her home one night after too many drinks, he learns much more than he expected about her.

Digital Manga’s online store, Akadot, currently has some good deals on a number of their Project-H books, while RightStuf has a hefty sale on their non-hentai titles (boys’ love galore!).

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: DMP, Hentai, Manga, Project-H

Review: The Limit (Vol. 01)

By Andre Paploo on Sunday, December 16, 2012

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Manga-ka: Keiko Suenobu
Publisher: Vertical Inc
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: October 2012

Synopsis: “Mizuki Konno is your typical high school junior at Yanno Prefectural High School. Like many teens her age, she is studying hard for college and when she has some downtime she likes to fuss over fashion and make-up. While she may not be one of the class elites, Mizuki is fortunate to be on the right side of her class’s idols. But that might not settle well with those who are in a similar academic status but not so lucky with their social lives.

Mizuki has determined in her diary who is a “have” and who is a “have not.” The diary is discovered before a class fieldtrip and tensions are now at new heights. Fights may soon break out – and ironically they will come from those “meek and helpless” figures who supposedly have no friends or future. But all this is supplanted when tragedy strikes in the form of a traffic accident and the class is split into two new groups: the living and the dead!”

The Limit is an unsettling and disturbing shoujo manga that looks past the sparkling wonderland of fashionable gals and pretty boys. It takes a cruel, hard look at high school life without the gloss normally painted over it in most manga. The story is told from the perspective of a seemingly cute, peppy girl named Konno, but even before the tragic incident that fuels the plot, one is given a feeling of the fierce hierarchy these girls live in. After a horrific bus accident, the survivors are left stranded in the wilderness, with nary a magical fairy or giant robot in sight.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Vertical Inc

Review: Bleach (Vol. 50-51)

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, December 14, 2012

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Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2012

Synopsis: “Ichigo’s return to an ordinary life is disrupted by a mysterious man named Kugo Ginjo. But what are Ginjo’s true motives? And when a friend is attacked, Ichigo discovers he may have a chance to regain his lost Soul Reaper powers. Knowing Tsukishima is after Ichigo, Ginjo continues the Fullbring training at a secret base. Ichigo is mastering Fullbring at an incredible speed and regaining his lost powers, but is he ready to face Tsukishima just yet…?”

Ichigo’s newest training regime has begun – bring on the funny looking stuffed pig! Apparently. The training methods here are less conventional than in the past but at least the basics persist – survive and get stronger. These two volumes are still mostly just set-up for whatever’s coming and these kinds of volumes aren’t usually as exciting as the climaxes they lead to. Even so, these two books are bogged down more than usual because of all-too-convenient plot points and odd choices for mystery reveals.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Bleach, Manga, Shonen Jump, Viz Media

Victoria’s Favourites: Top 20 Manga (Part 02)

By Victoria K Martin on Thursday, December 13, 2012

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Welcome to the second part of my Top 20 Favourite Manga list! You can read the first part here.

(Just a reminder, this is a ranking based on personal preference, rather than just perceived level of quality; however, with each choice, my ranking of the series over at Anime News Network is noted in parentheses.)

Read more…

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